Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is a new air interface standard for microwave and millimeter wave frequency bands. WiMAX connects the wireless access point of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11a to the Internet. It may also connect enterprise and home environments to a wired backbone line. In addition, WiMAX may be used as a wireless extension technology of the cable and Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) to implement wireless broadband access.
The WiMAX network based on the IEEE 802.16 standard can provide a higher access rate. FIG. 1 shows network architecture of a WiMAX system with multiple hosts in the prior art. This network architecture includes a Mobile Station (MS) 11, a Gateway Mobile Station (G-MS) 12 and a host 13 of the G-MS 12, an Access Service Network (ASN) 14, and a Connectivity Service Network (CSN) 15.
In FIG. 1, the MS is a mobile terminal device, through which a user accesses the WiMAX network; the ASN includes a Base Station (BS) and an Access Service Network Gateway (ASN-GW), and is a set of network functions providing wireless access services on the WiMAX terminal device. The ASN includes the following function entities: Physical and Media Access Control Function (PHY/MAC Function), Data Path Function (DPF), authenticator, Service Flow Authorization (SFA), and external agent.
In a WiMAX system with multiple hosts, the host of the G-MS accesses the BS through the IEEE802.3/802.11/802.16 link; the G-MS is connected to the BS via the R1 interface; the BSs of the Network Access Provider (NAP) are connected via the R8 interface; the BS is connected to the ASN-GW via the R6 interface; the ASN GWs are connected via the R4 interface, and the ASN-GW is connected to the CSN of the NSP via the R3 interface.
In the prior art, there is no authentication method based on the Ethernet Convergence Sublayer (Eth-CS).